


A Ballad

by SpaceBunBun



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:03:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceBunBun/pseuds/SpaceBunBun
Summary: A while ago I told my friend Yo to imagine Dimitri as a piano player and Byleth as a violin player. So I hope this does it justice, even though I don't think that it flows well. I'm also here to tell you to please take care of yourself!! Don't sacrifice your mental health for anything!! Not for your job, not for your music, not for school, not for anything! Please take a rest, make sure to sleep, stay hydrated, eat some good food! Take care of yourself!
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 7





	A Ballad

Between college classes and work, Dimitri hardly had the time for anyone or himself, but he still manages to practice the piano. It was something that he always enjoyed doing, it was one of the things that connected him and his father before he passed. He would play his father anything from ballads to pop, and whenever Dimitri played anything for his father, he always had a look of glee on his face. He sighed, placing his fingers on the piano, playing a song. Dimitri listened to every note, every sound the keys played. But when he played, something was missing, though he didn't know what exactly. 

Dimitri awoke the next morning in his dorm room, he swore he was still awake in one of the music rooms. He walked out of the bathroom, looking at the bags under his eyes. He rubbed his face, letting out a low groan. He slumped over, turning on the water to splash his face to help wake him up. Dimitri let out one last groan before wobbling to get ready. He wobbled his way to every class, every lecture went in one ear and out the other as he stared blankly at the dry erase board. 

When he got back to his dorm room, he sank into his bed, groaning as he felt his muscles tense up. His eyes burned when he slowly blinked at them, hearing whispers of old voices as he failed to go to bed. In one last attempt to go to sleep, Dimitri slowly closed his eyes only to hear loud thuds on his door. He placed a pillow on his face, screaming before he waddled his way to his dorm. 

"You look like shit," Felix greeted. 

"What," Dimitri growled, shutting the door behind Felix. 

Felix ruffled through his bag to hand him a couple of slips of paper. "Here." 

Dimitri rubbed his eyes, unable to read what was on the paper. "What is this?" 

"Tickets to a violin concert," Felix rolled his eyes. 

"Why give them to me," Dimitri asked, stupidly. 

Felix growled out. "Do you want them or not?" 

"Yeah, sure," Dimitri yawned as he fell to the ground. 

Felix sighed as he placed a blanket on top of Dimitri before he left his room. 

Dimitri patted all over his body to find his phone. "Yes, hello." 

"Hey, there is this violin concert going on," the man said, cheerfully. 

Dimitri scratched his head as he listened to his old manager's words. As he kept talking, Dimitri shuffled around his desk, finding the tickets. "What's the name of the violinist you're talking about?" 

"Her name is Byleth Eisner," he replied. 

Dimitri sighed out as he rubbed his face. 

"Dimitri," he asked. 

Nothing. 

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you if you want to perform with her on stage," he asked. 

Dimitri placed his fingers on his temple and rubbed it in circles. "I've told you a million times, I'm no longer a professional pianist." 

"But-" 

Dimitri hung up. He let out a sigh as he stared at the tickets, looking intently at the date. He placed the tickets into his pocket, making his way into town. It had been so long since he had truly felt the crisp air of Fhirdiad. His heart began to drop as he walked through the streets, seeing the bright lights, it reminded of the times his father took him to food stands, piano practice, carnivals, and so many other things. Dimitri pushed through as he kept walking towards the old Fhirdiad Music Town Hall. 

In one of the halls, he stopped to look at a trophy case looking at the biggest one it had, reading the inscription. He stepped aside to look at a picture, a picture of him and his father with smiles on their faces. He jerked his body around, heading to his seat in the auditorium. The lights start to dim and fog started to fill the room as Byleth walked onto the stage. Dimitri's eyes widened as he heard her play on her violin quietly, slowly crescendoing. The beat started to become up-beat and spunky. He felt his body tense up just a little. 

When Dimitri looked at her face, there wasn't much of a smile on her face. Her movements were a bit robotic, her moving her arms back and forth, back and forth, no reaction. The crowd cheering for her never seemed to phase her, or even motivate her to do any other motion. 

When the concert went on, there was a pause, everyone became silent as they kept waving around their glow sticks. Byleth took one breath as she placed the bow on the violin and started to play. His eyes widened as she played the song low and slow, a different woman started to sing something dramatic, something you would hear in a tragedy. As he listened to every note, every word, the song sent chills down Dimitri's spine. 

After the song, he left the auditorium to wrap his head around the song. It was so dramatic, so beautiful, the lyrics and violin were stuck in his head. He did anything to try to rid of the music from his head, shaking his head, walking around the building, staring into space, but nothing. When Dimitri came back to his senses, he realized that the concert was over and he was nowhere near the front doors. 

"Oof," Dimitri said, bumping into Byleth as he walked towards the front doors. 

"Ow," Byleth said, rubbing her head. 

Dimitri's face became red when he realized who he bumped into. "Oh, I'm sorry! You are unharmed?" 

"I'm fine," she replied, standing up and patting her dress. 

"That's good," he smiled, faintly and standing up. 

After a few seconds of silence, Byleth finally recognized him. "Oh, you're Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, the child prodigy in piano." 

Dimitri let out a low groan. 

"Oh! I didn't mean to bring bad memories," Byleth apologized, covering her mouth. 

"It's alright," he said, softly. 

"Um," Byleth hummed, before being interrupted. 

"Byleth!" Her manager called. "What are you doing? We need to leave now!" 

She quickly wrote down her number, handing it to him. "If you are free sometime, please call me. I would love to do a duet with you." 

Dimitri watched her as she left with her manager. He shoved the paper in his pocket as he walked towards the front door. Even after the limited interaction with Byleth, the song was stuck in his head as he walked back to his dorm room. It was stuck in his mind when he was sleeping, when he was doing school work and in classes, when he was at his job, at all points in time. It wasn't like him but skipped a couple of classes to sneak to the music room to play the piano to play the song over and over again. 

He grabbed music sheets to write notes, for the piano, to go along with the lyrics and the violin. During this process, he missed many classes and shifts. It wasn't until Sylvain found him, taking him back to his dorm. He woke up the next morning with food Felix made on his nightstand. Dimitri started to eat it, remembering one of the reasons he quit playing the piano. He rubbed his neck as he wobbled his way to the bathroom to get ready. Dimitri scanned the classroom, seeing all the glaring and surprising looks from everyone. His face was blank when he saw Byleth in his class with the same expression that he had. 

He rubbed his face as he kept hearing the melody of Byleth's song and as he trudged through the lecture. Dimitri felt a tug at his arm as he walked through the halls. He turned his head to see Byleth's face. 

"What," he growled. 

"Are you okay?" She asked, softly. 

No answer. 

Byleth took one deep breath in and exhaled. "Your friends keep telling me you're neglecting yourself. I'm getting concerned." 

Dimitri turned to face her, letting out a sigh. "You don't even know me, why do you care?" 

"I don't need to know you to care," she reassured him. 

He curled his fist, uncurling it after a few seconds. He had nothing to say. 

She kept a tight grip on his arm, dragging him to the music room. He groaned the whole way there. 

"They told me you are working on a song," she said, picking up the music sheets. 

Dimitri quickly grabbed them out of her hand, crumpling them up and shoving into his bag. "It's none of your concern." 

"Dimitri, please," Byleth said, softly. 

He took one quick breath. "You're song, the one you that you played at the concert I was at." 

It took a few seconds for her to realize what song it was. "What about it?" 

"I haven't been able to get it out of my head since then," he paused to let out a sigh. "I have been writing up music notes for the piano since then." 

Byleth faintly smiled as she placed her hands on his chest. "I'm so sorry. It's because of me that you are suffering." 

Dimitri placed his hands on hers. "It's not your fault. I've been doing this since I was a child." 

"Let's go get something to eat and we can discuss this, or something else," she said, curling her hands. 

"I would like that," he agreed, taking her hands off of his chest. 

The two walked to a nearby shop and sat down at a table. Instead of talking about music, the two talked about other things, their favorite foods, favorite colors, favorite animals. They sat at the shop until sunset, forgetting why they were there. It was a nice distraction for Dimitri to forget the song for a little while. Days had passed, and Dimitri showed up to class on time and did all of his work like he was supposed to. His schedule was cleared more now than ever since he got fired from his job. Most of his days after class, he would spend staring at the ceiling or spend time in the music room listening to Byleth play her violin. 

After listening to her play every note of her violin, every tune that she played, he felt his worries melt away. Even when they were in class together, when they played a duet together, he felt better playing the piano. He even noticed her expression has changed. He stayed behind, shuffling through his bag to find the crumpled music sheets of the piece he created for Byleth's song. He placed it on the stand and started to play it. He started low and slow. It soon started to become dramatic as the one she used to play. As he played some more, he heard a voice in the background, singing. 

"This world is dry and barren," Byleth sang. "It's not meant for a father and their child, one they want to protect." 

Dimitri kept playing until she stopped singing. He placed his hands over the beginning keys and waited for her. She picked up her violin and started to sing along with him. He stared at her face intently, looking at the many different expressions she gave off. He smiled as he felt his heart start to beat a little bit faster. 

"Ahh," Dimitri sighed out. 

"Hehe," Byleth laughed as she sat down next to him. "Are you alright?" 

"Yes, I'm fine," he said, his hands hovering over some of the keys. 

"Then why are you sitting with your hands over the keys?" 

Dimitri quickly placed his hands on his legs. "No reason." 

Byleth chuckled as she placed her head on his shoulder. "May I ask why you stopped playing the piano?" 

He took a deep breath and exhaled. "After my father died, everyone wanted to parade me around as is heir to his music company, force me onto tours and interviews, they wanted me to play piano for them." 

As he told his story, she placed her hand on his to give a gentle squeeze. 

"Being forced into the limelight, everything became hazy. I remember constantly playing until I had collapsed from exhaustion so I stopped playing." 

"But nothing did change afterward, did it," she sighed. 

"No. I worked constantly, whether it was for my job or for school, I forced myself to do something constantly because it was something I was used to." 

Byleth placed her other hand on his arm and squeezed him gently. "It must have been hard to deal with it all." 

"Yeah," he sighed. "Now that I have had more free time, I realize that I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying playing the piano again now that I don't have all no one is watching me." 

Byleth looked at him, giving him a kind smile. 

"I'm also enjoying my time with you and playing music with you."

Byleth placed one of her hands on her face, feeling it heat up. "I, I'm glad. I want to keep having moments like these with you. So please take care of yourself." 

Dimitri smiled as he placed his hands back onto the piano to play a soft tune. After a few seconds, Byleth began to sing along with him as they spent the rest of the day in the music room.

**Author's Note:**

> A while ago I told my friend Yo to imagine Dimitri as a piano player and Byleth as a violin player. So I hope this does it justice, even though I don't think that it flows well. I'm also here to tell you to please take care of yourself!! Don't sacrifice your mental health for anything!! Not for your job, not for your music, not for school, not for anything! Please take a rest, make sure to sleep, stay hydrated, eat some good food! Take care of yourself!


End file.
